Doug Katsaros News

The fifth annual Broadway Sings for PKD, a concert benefiting the Polycystic Kidney Disease Foundation, will be offered Thursday, February 25 at 7:00 pm at The Laurie Beechman Theatre.

Tonight, December 1st at 7 pm at at Barnes & Noble located at 150 East 86th Street, Ann Hampton Callaway will perform selections from THE HOPE OF CHRISTMAS, a new collection of Christmas songs interpreted by the multiplatinum-selling singer, Tony nominated actress, pianist and leading champion of the American songbook, with lyrics by two-time Emmy Award winner William Schermerhorn. Schermerhorn will join Callaway in the discussion, with Alex Rybeck on piano.

On December 1st at 7 pm at at Barnes & Noble located at 150 East 86th Street, Ann Hampton Callaway will perform selections from THE HOPE OF CHRISTMAS, a new collection of Christmas songs interpreted by the multiplatinum-selling singer, Tony nominated actress, pianist and leading champion of the American songbook, with lyrics by two-time Emmy Award winner William Schermerhorn. Schermerhorn will join Callaway in the discussion, with Alex Rybeck on piano.

Starvox Entertainment and John Yonover/Revonoy Productions today announced the casting and creative details for Dee Snider's Rock & Roll Christmas Tale, written by and starring Twisted Sister front man Dee Snider. Snider will be joined by singer/songwriter recording sensation, Taylor Dayne, along with eleven other acclaimed Toronto "triple threat" actors-musicians-singers who will perform in the highly anticipated Christmas musical on stage at the Winter Garden Theatre (189 Yonge Street) from Nov. 17, 2015 to Jan. 3, 2016.

THE HOPE OF CHRISTMAS is a new collection of Christmas songs interpreted by multiplatinum-selling singer, Tony nominated actress, pianist and leading champion of the American songbook, Ann Hampton Callaway, with lyrics by two-time Emmy® Award winner William Schermerhorn, and featuring twenty-nine of the world's best jazz musicians, including Five Play, New York Voices, Hubert Laws, Claudio Roditi, Gerald Albright, The Ted Rosenthal Trio and more. The recording will be released on Friday, October 9 by the MCG Jazz record label (Marty Ashby, producer).

Broadway In Chicago is thrilled to announce the quintessential backstage musical comedy classic 42nd STREET will celebrate a two-week engagement at the Cadillac Palace Theatre (151 W. Randolph) with a sparkling new production, March 8 - March 20, 2016. 42nd STREET will be directed by co-author Mark Bramble and choreographed by Randy Skinner, the team who staged the 2001 Tony Award winning Best Revival.

Drew Fornarola and Marshall Pailet's musical comedy is a gleeful valentine to Nintendo video games.

CLAUDIO QUEST, a super new musical, receives its New York premiere this July as part of the 2015 New York Musical Theatre Festival. With a book, music and lyrics Drew Fornarola and Marshall Pailet and direction by Tony Award nominee John Tartaglia (Avenue Q), CLAUDIO QUEST begins performances July 7, 2015 at the Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre at the Pershing Square Signature Theatre and runs through July 14, 2015.  Individual tickets go on sale Monday, June 15 and can be purchased at www.claudioquest.com. 

Join Encompass for this spectacular one night only benefit event in a unique Tribeca penthouse with a grand outdoor terrace featuring panoramic NYC views, to take place at 66 Leonard Street, New York, NY 10013 (between Church Street & Broadway) in the penthouse of Mr. Chip Seelig. In addition to an evening of great entertainment, guests can also expect savory hors d'oeuvres and enjoy wines from Mr. Seelig's private collection.

Showbiz411 writes that CARSON - THE MUSICAL creator Henry Bushkin won a lawsuit today brought by Bruce Singer, Sharon Stone's brother-in-law, who had claimed he was owed money from sales of Bushkin's book about Johnny Carson and The Tonight Show. Showbiz also reports that Bushkin's CARSON - THE MUSICAL, based on his book about the late-night host, is getting ready for a workshop in September.

Nancy Rhodes, artistic director of Encompass New Opera Theatre, announced today that cabaret and Broadway star Jason Graae will be the featured performer at the Encompass Jazz Cabaret Gala in Manhattan on June 29th, 2015. 

At a ceremony held last night in New York, the Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs announced the winners of the 2015 MAC Awards. The show was hosted by Karen Mason, with musical direction by Barry Levitt, and was produced by Julie Miller and directed by Lennie Watts.

A LITTLE NEW MUSIC 7 was held on Tuesday, March 10th at Rockwell: Table and Stage in Los Angeles, with Jordan Kai Burnett as host/emcee and Bryan Blaskie as music director.

Keeping with their successful tradition of premiering new and unpublished material, A LITTLE NEW MUSIC returns to Rockwell: Table & Stage in Los Feliz with a highly inventive program featuring Broadway and local talent. Returning as hostess and chanteuse is the spicy Jordan Kai Burnett (SEUSSICAL), joined by music director Bryan Blaskie (VICTORIAN COURTING AND ZOMBIES) and band.

Keeping with their successful tradition of premiering new and unpublished material, A LITTLE NEW MUSIC returns to Rockwell: Table & Stage in Los Feliz with a highly inventive program featuring Broadway and local talent. Returning as hostess and chanteuse is the spicy Jordan Kai Burnett (SEUSSICAL), joined by music director Bryan Blaskie (VICTORIAN COURTING AND ZOMBIES) and band.

Los Feliz is raining shows and show tunes this March at ROCKWELL Table and Stage, L.A.'s premier spot for extraordinary entertainment and sensational dining experiences (for before, during or after the shows!) - where you can have a great lunch or dinner on our outside patio, enjoy specialty cocktails and see some of the best entertainment Los Angeles has to offer!

Keeping with their successful tradition of premiering new and unpublished material, A LITTLE NEW MUSIC returns to Rockwell: Table & Stage in Los Feliz with an exciting program featuring Broadway and local talent. Returning as hostess and chanteuse is the spicy Jordan Kai Burnett (SEUSSICAL), joined by music director Bryan Blaskie (VICTORIAN COURTING AND ZOMBIES) and band.

Workshop presentations begin today, February 5, for the Broadway-bound musical Somewhere in Time, based on the novel by renowned author Richard Matheson (I Am Legend, What Dreams May Come) and the subsequent hit film starring Christopher Reeve, Jane Seymour and Christopher Plummer.

She's baaaack! Broadway's Robin Baxter (Mamma Mia, Footloose) will present Robin Baxter's Bipolar Beauty Tips & Chainsaw Repair Show, her tumultuous journey on and off Broadway with bipolar illness, for one night only at Metro Baptist Church (410 West 40th Street - between 9th & 10th Avenues) on Sunday, February 8th at 7:00 p.m. Directed by Jay Rogers (When Pigs Fly, Whoop-Dee-Doo!)with Musical Direction by Doug Katsaros (Somewhere in Time, The Toxic Avenger) the evening will include a mix of cabaret, music, song - and power point, as Ms. Baxter literally and figuratively takes a chainsaw to the stigma of mental health. Tickets are free, although donations will be accepted at the door. There will be a live chainsaw present. For more information, visit www.indiegogo.com/projects/r-b-s-bipolar-beautytips-chainsaw-repair-show.